'Hustle,' 'Gravity' lead Oscars with 10 nods each

From left, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence are shown in "American Hustle." The film received 10 Academy Award nominations Thursday, including best actor for Bale, best actress for Adams and best supporting actress for Lawrence.FRANCOIS DUHAMEL, COLUMBIA PICTURES

The Academy Awards appear to be the three-horse race many expected it would be, with “Gravity,” “American Hustle” and “12 Years a Slave” all receiving a heap of nominations.

The nominations for the 86th Academy Awards, announced Thursday morning in Beverly Hills, were led by the 3D space odyssey “Gravity” and the con-artist caper “American Hustle,” both with 10 nominations. The harrowing historical epic “12 Years a Slave” trailed closely with nine nominations.

All were among the nine films nominated for best picture. The other nominees are “Captain Phillips,” “Dallas Buyers Club,” “Her,” “Nebraska,” “The Wolf of Wall Street” and “Philomena.”

The most notable omission by the academy was Tom Hanks, whose lead performance in “Captain Phillips” was widely considered a shoo-in. It was a particularly surprising snub since Hanks is widely beloved by the academy, having been nominated five times previously, winning for “Forest Gump” and “Philadelphia.”

Robert Redford, expected by many to be nominated for the shipwreck drama “All Is Lost,” also missed out on a best actor nod. Redford has never won an acting Oscar.

With her nomination, Streep pads her record for most acting nominations. This is her 18th nod, including three wins, the last for 2011's “The Iron Lady.”

Martin Scorsese's “The Wolf of Wall Street” came into Thursday as one of the biggest question marks of an awards season that has often left many guessing. The nearly three-hour Wall Street extravaganza of money, sex and drugs became a lightning rod of debate, with many questioning whether it glamorized the infamous trader Jordan Belfort.

But “The Wolf of Wall Street” landed big nominations: best picture, best actor (DiCaprio), best director (Scorsese, his eighth for directing) and best supporting actor (Jonah Hill).

Also doing well Thursday were Spike Jonze's futuristic romance “Her” (five nominations, including best original screenplay for Jonze), and Alexander Payne's black-and-white road trip “Nebraska” (six nominations, including best director for Payne).

One of the day's biggest winners was the 27-year-old producer Megan Ellison, the daughter of billionaire Larry Ellison. Her Annapurna Pictures produced two of the best-picture nominees (“American Hustle” and “Her”) as well as the Wong Kar-Wai martial arts drama “The Grandmaster.” She celebrated by tweeting “17!” — the total nominations her films received.

Though historically the most-nominated films have taken home best picture, that's not been the case in recent years. Six of the past 10 years, the most-nominated film hasn't triumphed in the end, including last year, when Steven Spielberg's “Lincoln,” with 12 nominations, was beaten by Ben Affleck's “Argo.”

This year's Oscar telecast, on March 2, with Ellen DeGeneres hosting for the second time, has particular pressure on it to live up to the increasingly popular Golden Globes. With hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, the Globes have earned higher ratings the past two years and drawn good reviews. The Academy Awards show has meanwhile struggled to freshen up its more prestigious brand.

AP film writer Jessica Herndon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Related Links

From left, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence are shown in "American Hustle." The film received 10 Academy Award nominations Thursday, including best actor for Bale, best actress for Adams and best supporting actress for Lawrence. FRANCOIS DUHAMEL, COLUMBIA PICTURES
Sandra Bullock is shown in "Gravity." She was nominated for an Academy Award for best actress, the film is up for best picture and Alfonso Cuarón got a nod for best picture. The film is also nominated for most of the technical awards. WARNER BROS. PICTURES
Chiwetel Ejiofor is shown in "12 Years a Slave." The film is up for best picture and also received nominations for best actor (Ejiofor), supporting actress (Lupita Nyong'o) and director (Steve McQueen). FOX SEARCHLIGHT
Tom Hanks is shown in "Captain Phillips." The tale of a merchant ship captain whose vessel was taken over by pirates received a best-picture nomination but Hanks was not nominated as best actor. Barkhad Abdi was nominated for best supporting actor. HOPPER STONE, COLUMBIA PICTURES
Bruce Dern stars in "Nebraska." The film was nominated for best picture, Dern was nominated for best actor and Alexander Payne was nominated for best director. PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Leonardo DiCaprio is shown in "The Wolf of Wall Street." The movie is nominated for best picture, DiCaprio for best actor and Martin Scorsese for best director. PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Joaquin Phoenix is shown in "Her." The film received four Oscar nominations Thursday, in the categories of best picture, original screenplay, production design and original song. WARNER BROS. PICTURES
Judi Dench and Steve Coogan are shown in "Philomena."The film was nominated for four Oscars on Thursday, including best picture, best actress (Dench), adapted screenplay and score. THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

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